I received this note from John R Bradley:
"Regarding the comment you posted about Fareed Zakaria's suggestion that Moocco and Jordan may be the best options, post-Arab Spring, and the question of whether he wrote "this himself or did he plagiarize it from the press releases of the royal courts in both countries?" Actually, while possibly not an obvious case of plagiarlism, his whole conclusion sounds strikingly similar to the exact same conclusion I draw in my latest book. I know Zakaria reads my books -- he interviewed me on PBS in 2005 about Saudi Arabia Exposed and chose Inside Egypt as his Book of the Week on his CNN show. "Monarchies, slowly but surely embracing the constitutional model (as in Jordan and Morocco), would seem to be the best that’s on offer at the moment.... A certain amount of liberalism, moreover, is still at play in both countries, which is more than can be said for any of the others..... This might not be democracy as we know it and mostly love it, but it’s the best kind the Arabs can hope for in the midterm." That's from my After the Arab Spring (p. 217) Here is Zakaria in the Washington Post: "The best role models for the region might well be two small monarchies. Jordan and Morocco have gone the opposite route, making measured reforms and liberalizing their existing systems. The monarchies have chosen evolution over revolution. So far, it seems the better course...." Judge for yourself".
"Regarding the comment you posted about Fareed Zakaria's suggestion that Moocco and Jordan may be the best options, post-Arab Spring, and the question of whether he wrote "this himself or did he plagiarize it from the press releases of the royal courts in both countries?" Actually, while possibly not an obvious case of plagiarlism, his whole conclusion sounds strikingly similar to the exact same conclusion I draw in my latest book. I know Zakaria reads my books -- he interviewed me on PBS in 2005 about Saudi Arabia Exposed and chose Inside Egypt as his Book of the Week on his CNN show. "Monarchies, slowly but surely embracing the constitutional model (as in Jordan and Morocco), would seem to be the best that’s on offer at the moment.... A certain amount of liberalism, moreover, is still at play in both countries, which is more than can be said for any of the others..... This might not be democracy as we know it and mostly love it, but it’s the best kind the Arabs can hope for in the midterm." That's from my After the Arab Spring (p. 217) Here is Zakaria in the Washington Post: "The best role models for the region might well be two small monarchies. Jordan and Morocco have gone the opposite route, making measured reforms and liberalizing their existing systems. The monarchies have chosen evolution over revolution. So far, it seems the better course...." Judge for yourself".
